By CHINEDU ASADU August 19, 2022 GMT https://apnews.com/article/sacred-rivers-religion-osun-nigeria-2cb638faba9adffd33ce7170d4ce62f7 OSOGBO, Nigeria (AP) — Yeyerisa Abimbola has dedicated most of her 58 years on Earth to the Osun, a waterway in deeply religious Nigeria named for the river goddess of fertility. As the deity’s chief priestess, she leads other women known as servants of Osun in daily … Read more
WASHINGTON (AP) — The US for the first time Friday said it will give Ukraine Scan Eagle surveillance drones, mine-resistant vehicles, anti-armor rounds and howitzer weapons to help Ukrainian forces regain territory and mount a counteroffensive against Russian invaders. A senior defense official told reporters that a new $775 million aid package will include 15 … Read more
ZOLOCHIV, Ukraine (AP) — Dr. Ilona Butova almost looks out of place in her neatly pressed lavender scrubs as she walks through a door frame that hangs from a crumbled wall into what used to be an administrative office of her hospital in Zolochiv. Not one building in the facility in the northeastern Ukrainian town … Read more
CHICAGO (AP) — A woman who has been central to R. Kelly’s legal troubles for more than two decades testified Thursday that the R&B singer sexually abused her “hundreds” of times before she turned 18 years old, starting when she was 15. Jane — the pseudonym for the now 37-year-old woman at Kelly’s trial on … Read more
LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — As a potential power broker, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will use his first visit to Ukraine since the war started nearly six months ago to seek ways to expand the export of grain from Europe’s breadbasket to the world’s needy. UN Secretary-General António Guterres will use his visit to focus … Read more
CLEVELAND (AP) — A federal judge in Cleveland awarded $650 million in damages Wednesday to two Ohio counties that sued CVS, Walgreens and Walmart over the way the national pharmacy chains distributed opioids to their communities. US District Judge Dan Polster said in his ruling that the money will be used to fight the opioid … Read more
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization described the ongoing crisis in Ethiopia’s Tigray region as “the worst disaster on Earth” and wondered aloud Wednesday if the reason global leaders have not responded was due to “the color of the skin of the people in Tigray.” In an emotional statement at … Read more
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA August 17, 2022 GMT https://apnews.com/article/sacred-rivers-religion-nepal-kathmandu-trending-news-eb979fe5f88881b5273ad8bcd63dd3f2 KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — High on a mountain in the Himalayas, pristine drops fall from the mouth of a tiger statue installed at a stream thought to form the headwaters of the Bagmati River, long revered as having the power to purify souls. From there it wends … Read more
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — It was early one morning when life under Russian occupation became too much for Volodymyr Zhdanov: Rocket fire aimed at Ukrainian forces struck near his home in the city of Kherson, terrifying one of his two children. His 8-year-old daughter “ran in panic to the basement. It was 2 o’clock in … Read more
MADRID (AP) — While vacationers might enjoy the Mediterranean Sea’s summer warmth, climate scientists are warning of dire consequences for its marine life as it burns up in a series of severe heat waves. From Barcelona to Tel Aviv, scientists say they are witnessing exceptional temperature hikes ranging from 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 Fahrenheit) to … Read more